Today we brought the tree in, and put the lights and glittering decorationgs to celebrate the hiding sun. From now on the days will be longer every day, slowly. The tree is glowing in the dark bringing hope about the increasing light. The tree is from our own yard, the edge of the forest, a bit thin but I think it is beautiful.

Along with the present came this card, made by the artist. Anna Wildrose's art is unbelievable rich, full of details, and it has both delicacy and strength, and it makes you think and gets your imagination to fly...

Beautiful Ellen, fairy of the Elder trees has her adventures in the middle of the flowers in our garden at summers, but she has her place on top of an old chest for the winter. To celebrate the Holiday time I created her a magical surroundings, where she enchantingly glows in the middle of the frosty grass, glassballs, golden stars and shimmering lights...

Holiday time... it is coming closer. I bought a garden angel the other day. Yes, my garden is covered with snow, and I won't put her there in cold, but she got to be our Holdiay angel in the living room instead! I put the angel on a small pillar and hmm then what... something to go with her. A little bit of glimmer and gold, red beads... two butterflies flew there to keep her company. And lights, of course, beautiful, glowing lights in the mid-winter darkness... So lovely to sit in the dark room, enjoying the angel lights.

Ensimmäinen kurssilla valmistunut nalle.The first bear that was finished in the course.

Melkein kaikki nallet, yhdeltä puuttuu vielä nenä.Almost all of the bears, one still missing the nose.

I have been kind of busy. Last weekend was the end of one teddybear course again that I was teaching at. Eight women made furry creatures, and what can I say... such sweet things they are, and each have their own personality! In the middle of teaching I had time to make one newcomer, plum coloured Olivia. The grey Vilho is a bear that I made during the earlier course. Aren't they all just so cute? Olivia became my favourite teddybear at once, I fell in love with that gorgeous fur colour and her tender expression.

Now it has been published, the newest German Dolls Puppen magazine (6/08, December/January), and I am featured in it with three pages! I am so proud to be amongst the other European doll artists. Here is a link to the magazine homepage:Dollami. Unfortunately there is no web magazine available.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

As you can see, I have now written all my texts in English for you, my international friends! All texts in English are in cursive, and under the pictures (Finnish text is above), so it is easier to find them. Hope you enjoy!

Lunta! Heräsin aamulla valkeaan maailmaan. Vähitellen lumi alkaa hiipua pois, mutta silti, lunta! Olisiko kuurattarella jotain tekemistä asian kanssa... kun juuri eilen illalla aloitin maalauksen, ja yön aikana oli satanut lunta... taikuuttako?Snow! Can you imagine, last night I started the Frost Lady painting, and it had been snowing at night... Most of it has melted, but I woke up in the white world. Is it magic?

No, not winter here yet, it is wet and raining, and a few degrees above zero (celcius), hard to reach the spirit of the winter. But Holiday season is coming and my thoughts are wandering towards the winter and frost, sparkling sky of stars and white sparkling snow... So I have been sketching the Frost Lady, Maiden of the Winter, Snow Goddess... whatever you want to call her. I have started the paintwork, so you might see the finished pece in a few days. You can see my other paintingshere.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Syksy on melkein ohi ja pieni syksyn keiju Ruska voi aistia ilmassa jo pakkasen tuntua. Kultaiset, ruskeat ja punaiset lehdet ovat putoilleet maahan peittäen lakastuvan ruohon ja maasta nousevat sienet. Pureva viima repii puista viimeisetkin muistot kesästä... Ruska on niin surullinen, hän on pitänyt hauskaa tanssivien lehtien kanssa nauttien lämpimistä syyspäivistä, leikkinyt piilosta oravien kanssa ja auttanut niitä keräämään talvivarastoja. Nyt on aika jättää jäähyväiset ystäville ja metsälle, joka valmistautuu nukkumaan hiljaista talviunta paksun lumen alla. Ruskan täytyy löytää oma pesä jossa viettää pitkä kylmä talvi suojassa pakkaselta.Fall is almost over and Ruska can smell the frost coming soon. Golden and brown leaves have fallen to the ground covering the dying grass and mushrooms. Cold wind blows away the remaining leaves washing away the last pieces of the summer. Little fall fairy Ruska is so sad, she has been dancing joyfully with the colourful leaves, enjoying the sunny and warm fall days, playing hide and seek with squirrels and helping them with their preparing for the winter. She knows now it is her time to leave the forest as it settles down sleeping quietly under the snow. She is biding farewell to her friends, and searching for a place of her own to stay for the cold long winter.

The teddybear class on the weekend took time from my sculpting, but there is progress, she has got legs now! I have also sanded her (have to be careful with sanding, not to take away all the details that tooks o much time...) I have not yet decided what she will look like, but I am now painting her. She will be brown, dark and coloured with warm earthy tones.

Autumn brings along the folk college courses. This year I have three teddybear courses to teach, and the first one ended this weekend. We used two Saturdays and one Sunday to make a lot of sweet bears! The students were busy cutting, sewing, stuffing and look how charming bears they made! They are made of mohair, they have glass eyes, wood shavings as filling, and they growl... I wonder if they are going to come alive?

At last I have started a new sculpture! I had a little break, but now my muse is talking to me again. The new creature has a face, but I am not yet sure what it will be, not even sure if it will be he or she. I am sure I will soon be told...

This is the first time I am trying inserted, self made eyes. Oh, my, it was difficult! Lot of swearing I must say... But finally I succeded and I am pretty happy about the result!

Abbreviation "OOAK" makes some people wonder what it means. English - specially US people LOVE abbreviations! And there we are wondering what an EARTH does that mean? OOAK is commonly used to mean unique, One Of The Kind. That's where the letters come from. It is widely used when talking about dolls and sculptures, but also paintings and other art.

My newest creation which was finally completed after long process, is Phoenix, a symbol of fire, new beginning, regeneration and life-after-death. She is perfect to start this new blog of mine! Phoenix lives for 500 years, and when her time has come, she makes a nest which she then ignites. Both the nest and the Phoenix burn fiercely, and from the ashes arises a new young Phoenix.

The height of the sculpture is 26 cm (10 1/4"). The Phoenix is 17 cm (6 3/4") from head to heel. You can find more pictures on my website: Fantasy Collection - Phoenix

Hello to the bloglandia! Everybody else is here... so why not me? I want to tell you abou my sculptures, paintings, crafts and sometimes a bit of my other life too. I am an artist working at home, and the arts and creavity has suck me to its fascinating world! Usually I am bursting with ideas and don't have enough time to make all of it. Sometimes my muse has ran away and I just can't start anything. But you can't make fine art pushing yourself too hard - well, you can but the results show you didn't have your heart in it. Sometimes my life is dull hard work, sometimes can't keep up with my ideas, but that's life, you newer know what it brings to you! Not dull anyway.

I hope someone will find my blog, I hope someone likes it, and I hope I can make blogging a habit! I am looking forwards to see you here, and read your comments, please enjoy yourselves!

What is fantasy? Anything you can imagine, even if you had never seen it. Is it true or is it fake... that you just don't know for sure. Fairies, elves, spirits, sprites, mermaids, seirens, whitches, wizards, trolls, gnomes. In the old times people used to truly believe in them. Who wouldn't have heard tales of house gnomes, those little relatives of Christmas elves. There was another strange underground world, and fairies were something else than nice, beautiful fairy-tale sweethearts. They were mischievous, cunning, seductive and even evil beings, who could attract a careless person to their enchanted world forever. What do you believe in? You can experience something magical here, and you may sneak into the dreamlike world of the mystical beings.

Veistoksia vai nukkeja? - Sculptures or Dolls?

Veistoksia! Koska - nukella voi leikkiä, ainakin periaatteessa. No taidenukeilla ei tietenkään varsinaisesti leikitä. Nuken raajat yleensä liikkuvat, ja monesti vaatteet ovat riisuttavat/puettavat. Veistos perinteisesti mielletään pelkästään kovasta materiaalista tehdyksi taide-esineeksi, joten määrittely nuken ja veistoksen välillä näissä töissäni on vähän häilyvä, näillähän on päälle liimatut vaatteet - no, asut - ja hiukset. Eivät ihan perinteisiä veistoksia siis. Mutta miellän ne kumminkin veistoksiksi, enkä mielelläni puhu niistä nukkeina!Sculptures! Because - you can play with a doll, basically. Well, you don't really play with art dolls though. The limbs of a doll are usually posable, and you also can dress/undress a doll. A sculpture is traditionally an art piece made from hard material, so the line between a doll or a sculpture is thin in my work. They do have outfits glued on, and they do hyave real hair. Not traditional sculptures as you could say. But I think they are sculptures, and don't like to use the word doll when talking about them!

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